Letters were sent by post. Urgent messages arrived via telegram. When the postal routes were blocked during the war, the Red Cross delivered messages. In the ghettos, the Jewish councils were tasked with the organisation of the postal service and the ghetto post office. Jewish prisoners in concentration sometimes sent messages via Gestapo-controlled association.

Using The Wiener Holocaust Library’s unique archival material on correspondence to discuss the mechanics of communication between separated families during the Nazi era and the Holocaust, Dr Christine Schmidt (Deputy Director and Head of Research) and Dr Barbara Warnock (Senior Curator and Head of Education) will explore how letters allowed separated family members to maintain connections and exchange information about the Holocaust.

This session is suitable for those teaching or studying the following:

• KS3 History
• GCSE History Edexcel: Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939
• GCSE History OCR: Germany 1925-1955, The People and The State
• Edexcel A-Level History: Germany and West Germany, 1918–89
• OCR History: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919–1963
• AQA History: Democracy and Nazism, Germany 1918-1945

This event is organised as part of the Holocaust Letters exhibition events series.

Book now